AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Reagan: An American Crusade

Air date: Wed., Aug. 17, 9:00 pm

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The life of the actor, governor, and president who saw America as “a shining city on a hill” is recalled by those who knew him best: wife Nancy Reagan and three of his children. Also interviewed are those in his inner political circle as well as his counterparts on the world stage, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who negotiated historic arms agreements with Reagan.

An economic transformation in 1983 secured Reagan’s second term. The episode chronicles his last four years in office-from the loss of his closest advisors and the Iran-Contra scandal to the dawning of the fall of Communism in Europe.